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Armenians and Greeks are recorded to have been the first Orthodox Christians on Luzón. An eighteenth century document written by Pedro Murillo Velarde, a Jesuit historian describing their order’s missionary labors in the Philippines, records the presence of such settlers in Manila as early as 1618.[2]

Around the beginning of the 20th century, Greek sailors settled in Legazpi, Albay on the island of Luzon. Their descendants now number no more than 10 families, who have kept their Greek family names and have become distinguished public figures and intellectuals, including serving in the Greek consulate in Manila. One of the first Orthodox Christian faithful to arrive in the province of Albay was Aléxandros Áthōs Adamópoulos (later anglicized to Alexander A. Adamson), who came to Legaspi City in 1928. Together with his brother and cousin he co-founded Adamson University in 1932, which is now owned by the Vincentian Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church.

There are also some independent groups in the Philippines that use the term orthodox in their names but are not a part of the Orthodox Church neither in communion with or are recognized by any of the sixteen autocephalous canonical Orthodox jurisdictions throughout the world.